Megliola: Framingham State building a winner

Friday

Aug 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMAug 29, 2008 at 2:59 PM

It was a chance meeting, and it hit Tom Kelley like a bolt of lightning.It was a Friday night at Framingham State College two summers ago, not much going on in the athletic department, a quiet time. Kelley, the athletic director, was in his office perusing some paper work. He expected no visitors.Then Tim Flanagan walked in.

Lenny Megliola/Daily News staff

It was a chance meeting, and it hit Tom Kelley like a bolt of lightning.

It was a Friday night at Framingham State College two summers ago, not much going on in the athletic department, a quiet time. Kelley, the athletic director, was in his office perusing some paper work. He expected no visitors.

Then Tim Flanagan walked in. "It kind of startled me," says Kelley. Why was Flanagan, the college president, here? After exchanging pleasantries, the purpose of Flanagan's visit was unmistakable.

"The first thing he said was, 'with these facilities at this fine institution, why don't we have more wins in football?"' Kelley recalls. "I didn't have an answer."

This he did know: the new president was expecting wins on autumn Saturdays. "I knew he was serious about football. He went to all the games," says Kelley.

Still, says Kelley, Flanagan's remarks "caught me off guard. He made it clear he wanted a winning program in a short period of time."

The Rams program has suffered for years, not a winning season since 1986, when they went 6-4. While other FSC teams had various degrees of success - especially women's and men's soccer of late - football has been a hard sell. Coaching staffs came and left, frustrated. Kelley would basically work on a five-year plan, giving a new staff that long "a measuring stick," says Kelley to turn the program around. It's never happened.

A new staff was put in place last year. It would start, of course, with hiring a new head coach. Flanagan brought in consultants to scrutinize the program. "He was serious," says Kelley. "He did his homework."

By the end of the 2006 season the Rams were 4-41 under the latest five-year plan. In the last game barely 20 players were available. Recruiting again would be difficult at a school with high academic standards. "We don't dip down for athletes," says Kelley. The new coach would have plenty of work ahead.

And the new coach was Tom Kelley.

He didn't really throw his name into the hat. But he had coached the Rams before for three years in the '80s, following Dennis Golden, who was the school's first coach. Kelley would be the second.

Framingham State College means everything to Kelley. Counting his four years here as a student, he's been at FSC for 36 consecutive years. But at 53 and having waged a fight with cancer, was it wise to coach again while still presiding in the AD's office?

He ran it by his wife, Jackie. It was Halloween night. She was busy with the trick-or-treaters. Jackie knew there was something her husband had to say, and she knew it couldn't wait. She just hoped it wasn't bad news.

She: "What's on your mind?"

He: "I'm thinking of being head coach again."

She: "That's it? I think it's a wonderful idea."

And that was that. Kelley picked his coaching staff. "We hit the ground running." A new five-year plan. "We knew we were going to be starting from scratch, almost like a new program, someone on my staff said. It was an uphill battle getting kids thinking about winning."

In the opener last year FSC lost to Nichols 14-0. "We were respectable," says Kelley. "The year before we were getting beat by 30 points a game."

The next week the Rams beat MIT. OK, MIT ain't LSU, but the victory-starved Rams savored the moment. "The next week we beat Fitchburg State," says Kelley. "Now we're 2-1. We hadn't been there in a long time."

Then the bubble burst. Loudly. The Rams finished 2-7 an overtime loss to Worcester State started a six-game losing streak. Nothing had changed. Or had it?

"I was a little dejected after the Worcester State game," says Kelley. "Jackie said 'What's the matter with you? You should be proud of the kids. That was a great Division 3 game.' She was right."

No one throws a party for a 2-7 team, but at FSC last season it was a bit different. "We weren't out of any games," says Kelley. "We went from about 260th in the country on defense to 60th."

The last game of the season the Rams lost on a rain-soaked field. It was a hard ending. Still, Flanagan told Kelley he was proud of the team. Flanagan addressed the team after every game.

Kelley noticed a residual effect caused by the suddenly competitive Rams. "Deans and coaches were asking me how it was going. We were changing the culture a little bit. The alumni started to come back. The homecoming game was packed last year.

"Our rallying cry was 'Bring football back to Framingham State."'

FSC opens the season against Endicott College Sept. 6. Kelley is wise enough not to make bold predictions. How about the Rams winning more than two games this year? "That's our goal," he says, and leaves it at that. "I think in our third year the (program) will start kicking in."

He hasn't been a head coach since he was 27. But something inside him never changed.

"If you're passionate about something, it's never work," he says. "There's always something to do here in the athletic department."

Thirty-six years at the school. The Rams play at a field off Maple Street. You'd think the higher-ups would some day consider naming it Tom Kelley Field. Why not?

(Lenny Megliola is a Daily News columnist. His e-mail is lennymegs@aol.com)

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